Through the Haze
by WTFpairings
Summary: After five years away from Rosewood, Spencer returns and finds herself in a complicated situation between Toby and Caleb.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This hurts my heart to write. Truly. You should know I am so against this.. _but_ , I'm genuinely worried that something of this sort may happen, and the idea just seems to dramatic and explosive that I put myself to the challenge of writing it. This takes place after 6x01. Hopefully, you've watched it by now.**

* * *

CHAPTER ONE

 _What happened to you?  
What happened to you?  
I run and set you free and nothing ever stays the same, say  
What happened to you?_

 **WHAT HAPPENED / EMILIE & OGDEN**

* * *

 _"Put your hands up. Now."_

 _Toby Cavanaugh pulled his gun out of his belt and pointed it towards two buff men that surrounded a trembling young female sitting on the floor. The poor girl was in tears, obviously fearing for her life while these two goons robbed the supermarket. Toby felt relieved that he was able to make it in time before the girl got hurt. He and his partner Lorenzo kept their guns pointed towards the robbers, and proceeded to get closer._

 _"Drop your weapons, and back away from the girl," Lorenzo ordered._

 _Both the robbers dropped their guns and put their hands up in surrender, making the officers glad that this didn't turn out much worse. The robbers could have pointed their guns at the girl and threatened to shoot, but they made the good choice of surrendering. Toby and Lorenzo both chose one of the respective guys to handcuff, and Lorenzo took them into the police car._

 _"You should go check on her," Lorenzo said. "I'll take them down to the PD and get back here in like, five minutes. Try and get a police report from her. I know she probably doesn't want to answer questions after what she just went through, but coax her."_

 _Toby nodded his head and walked back inside of the supermarket. The distraught girl was still curled up on the floor with her arms wrapped around her knees. Toby bit his lip before kneeling on the ground._

 _"Hi... miss," he began. "I'm Officer Cavanaugh."_

 _"Thank you," she immediately said, starling him a bit. "I would have gotten killed."_

 _He smiled bashfully._

 _"I'm just doing my job," he shrugged it off._

 _He stood up from the floor and offered her a hand to help her up, which she gladly accepted. He was happy to see a small smile emerge on her face._

 _"I'm going to have to answer questions about this, aren't I?" she asked._

 _Toby nodded his head, biting his lip._

 _"We don't have to get to it right away, but I have to file a police report," he explained. "I'm sorry if that's going to be hard for you, but it's standard procedure. You might want to come down to the station with me, too."_

 _"I have no problem answering the questions, it's just..." she sighed, staring at the floor. "Look, I'm a politician's daughter, okay? I have a reputation to keep around this town, and I could really hurt my dad's campaign if I get a negative reputation in town. I can't be viewed as weak, Officer. I need this to stay out of the press. Can you promise me that?"_

 _Toby nodded his head again._

 _"I understand, and I promise that I'll do whatever I can to make sure this stays out of the press," he said, and squeezed her shoulder. "My partner should be back any second, so we can drive you down to the station."  
_

 _"Okay," she nodded her head as well. "Thank you, Officer."_

 _"Of course," he smiled._

 _She tilted her head to the side and analyzed him for a moment._

 _"I'm Yvonne, by the way," she introduced herself. "Yvonne Phillips, to be exact. You've probably heard the last name from my dad. He's running for state senate. I'm involved in the campaign and all..."_

 _Toby smiled back at her._

 _"I think that's really amazing that you're helping your father like that," he told her. "It's nice to meet you, Yvonne. You're quite a tough girl.. running political campaigns and surviving store robberies?"_

 _Yvonne chuckled and nodded her head. After another minute or so, Lorenzo's police car pulled up outside of the supermarket._

 _"That's the ride," Toby informed her, motioning for them to leave the supermarket._

* * *

"So, come on," Spencer laughed, tilting her head to the side with a large smile. "Spill it, Cavanaugh. Who's the house for?"

"Nobody," he answered, shaking his head. "Nobody else, just me, okay? Is it so bad that I wanted to live in a normal house instead of a tiny little loft above a coffee shop? Besides, Ezra's renting that place out, so I can't get it back. This is what I've got to do."

"Fine, don't tell me. I told you, Toby, I know you!" she chuckled. "I know you're building it for someone, but it's fine if you don't want to tell me. I get it: it's been a long time, and you have your privacy and own life. I'm just wondering... does she know you're out with another girl?"

Toby raised his eyebrows.

"Stay quiet and finish that steak," he rolled his eyes playfully.

Spencer looked up, and allowed her eyes to lock with his glowing blue ones.

"This is really nice," she commented. "Not just the food, though... being back in Rosewood, feeling A-free. Being here with you again. It felt weird not to see you."

A small smile appeared on his face.

"Yeah, it did," he agreed. "Honestly, I didn't think you'd want to come out to dinner with me. But I'm glad you said yes."

"Why?" she asked, raising her eyebrows. "Despite our break up, we're still friends, Toby. And I still care about you. We don't have to be together for me to care about you."

"Yeah, friends," he nodded his head, but then bit his lip. "I don't know.. I just.. we broke up, and then that.. thing with Charlotte happened, and, I was just expecting you to cancel on me."

Spencer stared at the floor for a moment. She remembered how she had been back in the time near their break up. To be honest, she knew she wasn't exactly the best girlfriend. But after everything that happened with A, she felt like she wasn't in a place to be in a relationship, anyways. Getting out of Rosewood was what she needed at that time.

 _"Hey there," Toby greeted, stepping inside of their apartment. He walked over to the desk Spencer was sitting at, and wrapped his arms around her. He leaned down and pressed light kisses on the top of her head. "What'cha working on over there?"_

 _"It's a term paper.." she answered absentmindedly, "for school."_

 _Spencer had been attending Georgetown University, and Toby had given up his police career in Rosewood to live out in Washington D.C. with Spencer. It was a decision he wouldn't have regretted one bit if he and Spencer were in sync. And they were in sync for quite a while after they first moved to D.C. together, but fell out in time._

 _"Wanna take a break with that?" he asked, and gently began kissing her neck._

 _She let out a quiet giggle, but pulled her head away._

 _"Sweetie, I really have to finish this paper," she told him._

 _"I know, I know," he sighed, and squeezed her shoulders. He massaged them lightly. "It's just, you're always working so hard. Don't you think you deserve a night off to have fun?" He continued rubbing her shoulders. "Come on! It'll be fun. I'll take you out to eat something really quick. They opened a grill here—"_

 _"No," she responded immediately when she heard that. "I'm sorry, Toby. I can't go to a grill. It just sounds so much like Rosewood that it disgusts me."_

 _Toby furrowed his eyebrows._

 _"Okay," he nodded his head. "We can go wherever you want. I really don't care."_

 _"I promise, I'll make it up to you another day. Today's just no good for me," she explained to him, and finally turned around to look at him. "I need to finish this paper, and I don't think I'm going to get any work done if you keep distracting me."_

 _Toby pressed his lips together, and tried to wipe the disappointed look off of his face. He was proud of her for going to Georgetown and working hard to keep her grades up there, and he didn't want her to think that he didn't support her or something, because he did. He supported her so much. He just missed hanging around with his girlfriend sometimes. She never really seemed to have open time for him._

 _"Alright, that's fine," he said, and leaned to peck the top of her head._

"No, I want to be here," Spencer said, blinking quickly as the smile grew wider on her place. "I feel relieved to see you smiling."

"I can't help it when you're here," he said, but realized how expressive what he said was, and chuckled nervously. "I'm sorry, that was overstepping."

She shook her head.

"It's not," she told him. "What's not nice about hearing that you make a person smile?"

He pressed his lips together, feeling confused about the whole situation. It felt so natural to be with her and talk, although it was still a bit awkward. He wasn't exactly sure how to be in a normal friendship with her. They didn't spend too much time in the 'just friends' stage. She hated him for a long time in high school, and when they finally did become friends, they started dating not long after.

And it was hard to suddenly go to being just friends after everything they'd been through together as a couple, he had to admit. Sure, he'd had time to move on, but he knew that she'd always be in his heart, whether they ended up together or not. He was certain that he would never truly let go of her, even if he went off to marry another woman someday. She was his first love. That was an unforgettable, monumental thing in his life.

"For the record, I haven't been able to stop smiling ever since I got to this restaurant," Spencer blushed. "And I also couldn't stop smiling when I first saw your face in this town again."

"Then we should do this again sometime," he proposed. "I know almost no time has passed since you told me that you have no idea how long you're staying in town, but any chance you've got a clue about it now?"

She pondered it for a moment. She hadn't really thought too much about how long she'd stay in Rosewood. It felt both good and bad to be back, of course. This town had good memories and bad memories all in one. But she hadn't thought through a plan of her stay in Rosewood, she was sort of just winging it this time.

"At first, I was planning on just jetting out of here after seeing the girls again and telling the judge that I want Charlotte to be released, but after what happened, I don't think running out of town is the best idea," Spencer said. "One thing, it'll make me look guilty as hell in Charlotte's murder case, and two, I think I should be here while Alison and Jason go through this. Three, I've been trying to help my mom with her state senate campaign through video chats, texts, and e-mails, but it's so much easier helping her in person. I'm thinking I'll stay for a while longer, at least until the election is over." She bit her lip for a moment before adding, "And seeing the girls has been so great. I missed them." Swallowing hard, she finally managed to say, "And you.. I missed you."

"Trust me, the feeling is mutual..."

* * *

Spencer returned home. Her mother was already sleeping by the time she got home, but she saw a light on in the barn, so she knew Caleb was still up. She opened the door herself and knocked on the wall to get his attention.

"Spencer! Hey," he greeted. "Where have you been all evening? With the girls?"

She shook her head.

"I went to see Toby," she confessed. "He, um, he asked me to dinner the other day when we first saw each other again. Things got a little hectic with Charlotte's death, so we had to put it on hold for a little bit. But I found time tonight, so we met up."

Caleb nodded his head.

"Oh," he said emotionlessly, and stared at the floor.

"Oh?" Spencer asked, raising her eyebrows.

"I mean, good for you. It's good to know you can still hang out with the people in this town," he said, biting his lip. "Hanna can barely look at me."

"To be fair, your break up with her was a lot harsher than mine with Toby," Spencer reminded. "Toby and I ended on pretty good terms. We're still friends." She furrowed her eyebrows before continuing, "I don't even know why I'm telling you any of this. Apparently, you had a secret fishing trip with him over the summer. When was I going to be informed about that?"

Caleb tilted his head to the side.

"It would be unnatural of me to just cut him off completely. I don't want to cut him off," Caleb shook his head. "I was in town, and he asked me if I wanted to go fishing. Nothing wrong with that."

"I thought we both agreed it was better to wait before contacting him again," Spencer reminded.

Caleb shut his laptop and sighed.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about it," he told her. "But it was a calm thing. We literally went fishing, and that's it."

"Oh, so you didn't talk?" Spencer laughed, rolling her eyes. "Any chance I was a subject of conversation? Now, that would be interesting, wouldn't it?"

"You may have come up once or twice," Caleb grinned.

Spencer's mouth went open wide.

"Of course Toby was going to talk about you at some point," he reminded her.

"He's already gotten to the point of bashing his ex?" Spencer joked.

"No, nothing like that. It was sweet, actually," Caleb explained. "He said he misses you all the time. Something about seeing this other girl, too."

"He's seeing someone?" Spencer asked curiously. "He made it seem like he was single while we were at dinner."

"Maybe they broke up. I don't know," he shrugged. "He seemed pretty into her, though. He met her at work a while back. I don't really know the details."

"Are you just trying to tell me how great their relationship is so I won't try and go after him or something?" Spencer teased.

"Maybe, maybe not," he chuckled.

Spencer rolled her eyes playfully.

"I'm going to get some rest. I have to be up early to get ready to accompany my mom to this political thing," Spencer announced, slowly inching herself out of the barn. "They make it seem all professional and just for the sake of campaigning, but I still think it's an excuse to have a fancy party." He chuckled at her joke. She continued, "You should get some, too. It's already pretty late."

"Alright, I will," Caleb said with a small smile. "Good night, Spencer."

"Good night, Caleb," she smiled back before leaving and shutting the barn door.

* * *

Toby felt a little guilty as he stared at the house that was still under construction. He told Spencer that he wasn't building it for anybody, and that wasn't the truth. There was a reason he was building it, and that reason did have to do with somebody else. He sighed. He just needed this house to be perfect. He needed to be a stable guy.

 _"Daddy," the dark-haired girl said, touching her classy looking father's shoulder. Her father, dressed in a formal suit, turned around. "Hi."_

 _"Yvonne, sweetie!" Mr. Phillips exclaimed, hugging his daughter. "I'm so pleased that you could make it to the campaign. Your mother is stuck at work. It feels good to have support."_

 _Mr. Phillips furrowed his eyebrows when he saw the tall male standing behind his daughter._

 _"Oh..." he muttered. "And who's this, my darling?"_

 _"Dad, this is Toby Cavanaugh," Yvonne introduced, scratching her head nervously. "He's, um, he's my.. boyfriend."  
_

 _Mr. Phillips's eyebrows raised up instead. He analyzed the boy standing extremely close to his daughter. It didn't feel like a good look. Toby's heart was racing. He knew it was a bad idea meeting her father so soon, and he told Yvonne that, but she insisted that it was time. She invited him to come to one of the campaigning parties that was being held, where her father was going to announce that he was running for state senate._

 _"Boyfriend," Mr. Phillips nodded his head. "I wasn't aware that my daughter was seeing anyone." He pressed his lips together for a moment before asking, "So, Mister Cavanaugh, you're a good fit for my daughter? She's a brilliant woman, you know. She needs a guy that is intelligent and well-suited for her."_

 _"I think I'm the right fit for your daughter, sir..." Toby mumbled. "I, uh, I care about her very much. I hope you see that in me."_

 _"I'd like to know more about you, son," Mr. Phillips said. "Where is your place of work? Hopefully, you're in the political field. Yvonne is very interested in politics."_

 _"No, I'm a police officer," Toby explained. "I used to be a carpenter."_

 _Mr. Phillips raised his eyebrows._

 _"A police officer and a carpenter, huh?" Mr. Phillips asked. "Any college education?"_

 _"No, sir. I got my GED and left high school to be a carpenter. Then, I enrolled in the Harrisburg Police Academy and became an officer for the Rosewood PD," Toby explained._

 _"Hmm," Mr. Phillips pondered. "Mister Cavanaugh, I need to have a word with my daughter. Would you please excuse us for a moment?"_

 _Toby knew this wasn't going well. He sighed, but still nodded his head. Then, he walked to a nearby table. He needed to hear this conversation. He was almost positive that Mr. Phillips was about to bash him to Yvonne._

 _"Yvonne!" Mr. Phillips yelled in a hushed tone. "What were you thinking when you began seeing this boy? He's got nothing for you. Nothing, I tell you!"_

 _"Daddy, he's so sweet, and he cares about me so much," Yvonne explained. "I really, really like him, and I want this to work out between us."_

 _A small smile appeared on Toby's face. At least he had Yvonne's support here._

 _"Being sweet is not enough for a lifetime together," Mr. Phillips told his daughter. "I married your mother at the age of 25. You are nearing that age, Yvonne. It is time to get serious about your future. Your career and your love life need to be set. If you're thinking about the long run, how is this man going to support you? He works as a police officer! He has no college education! He's not serious about his future. If you two decide to become serious, he couldn't support you. This Toby Cavanaugh boy is not fit for you. He has a lot of maturing to do, and he needs to figure himself out before he can take on a real woman like you. There are so many men that could give you everything you need."_

 _"I really wanted you to like him, okay?" Yvonne sighed. "He's a great guy. And we're not talking about the future just yet! We're trying to see where this goes."_

 _"You can't be having flings and short relationships. You need to start thinking about an ideal spouse for yourself. Candidates in political campaigns are much better off happily married, as they don't have an openness for scandals. And unless you want to be married to somebody that makes you want to cheat and have scandals ruin your political career, then don't further this relationship."_

 _Yvonne opened her mouth to speak, but saw Toby storming out of the building. She decided that talking to her dad could wait, so she followed Toby outside. She jogged faster and faster to catch up to him, and then grabbed his arm._

 _"Toby, wait!" she cried. "Where are you going?"_

 _"I'm not the kind of guy you can have a future with," he angrily said. "Your dad was right. I'm a low-life kind of guy. You're from the high status world, and I'm the guy that didn't graduate high school or get a college degree. Message received. I seem to have a thing for falling for girls that are way better than me, don't I?"_

 _"I'm not better than you. Cut it out. My dad was just being pissy. He never approves of my boyfriends, okay? I just thought he'd see past the job thing and realize what a great guy you are," Yvonne explained. "But I guess I was wrong, and I'm sorry for that. I'm sorry I made us come tell my dad about our relationship today."_

 _"Better now than later. My status isn't changing any time soon. Even if you told him about us weeks from now, I'd still be the guy who got his GED and didn't go to college," Toby shrugged._

 _"Toby..." she sighed._

 _"No, he was right," Toby told her. "I'm not a stable guy for you. I wish I could be the guy with the big house and the big money, but I'm not. I don't know how I could ever support you."_

 _"We would work together," Yvonne assured him. "I'll get money from my job, and you still get some from yours. It may not be the most money in the world, but it still is. And I don't care that you're not a stable guy, Toby. I knew that when we first got involved, and I still have wanted to be with you despite it."_

 _"You say that now, but if we actually have to deal with my job and money some day, you're going to change your mind," he sighed. "I can't stay this way. I know at least a part of you thinks that what your dad said is true. You agree with him, and you know I'm not the right guy to have a future with."_

 _"Maybe some of what my dad said is true, but that doesn't change how I feel about you," she told him._

 _"Then I need to prove him wrong," he declared._

 _"Toby, are you really doing this?" she asked, a small smile forming on her face._

 _Both of them knew she wanted him to do this. There was nothing unappealing about Toby changing his ways to become a more stable guy for their future. She wanted to support him._

 _"I think it's what is best for us," he smiled. "I'm going for it, Yvonne."_

 _"I think it could be great for us, too," she agreed._

 _She reached over to grab his hand, and gave it a light squeeze._

 _"Let's get back in there," she told him. "Don't go just yet. Don't go because my dad said that stuff. In time, we're going to show him what a man you can be."_

Toby set his tools down and leaned against his car. He still remembered that day so clearly. It was the day he set his goals in life and took on the challenge to become a real man. And it was taking him longer than he expected. He was still trying to build the house. Yvonne didn't know he was building it for them. That was where he was conflicted about Spencer. He told Spencer that he wasn't building the house for anyone, even though she seemed extremely confident about the fact that he was. And it was partially true that he was building it for someone, but not exactly. It wasn't _directly_ for Yvonne. It was for the possible future with her. Even if they didn't have a future, the house was still for him.

It wasn't like he was going to ask Yvonne to move in with him the minute that the house was built. The house was for him to live in, until further notice. If he and Yvonne got to a serious enough level that they moved in together, he would gladly let her move into the house. This was all a part of his plan to reach the life stability that he needed.

Just then, his phone began ringing. He snapped out of his thoughts and answered the call.

"Yvonne, hey," he greeted and smiled to himself. "What's up?"

"Hi!" she exclaimed through the phone. "I'm glad you picked up. I know it's last minute, but my dad wants me to attend this campaigning thing. The other candidates for state senate are going to be there, too. It's kind of important for his campaign, and he wants his daughter to be there. And as his daughter, I was hoping you'd want to tag along," she explained. "You know... as moral support."

He chuckled and answered, "Of course I'll be there. Just text me the time and stuff. And also tell me what I should wear, please. I need to continue to try and impress your dad."

"Oh, he's going to be _extremely_ impressed when he sees the man you're becoming," Yvonne laughed. "I'm so happy to know that you want to come with me. That means a lot to me, Toby."

"Hey.. you know I wouldn't miss it for the world," he told her. "Alright. I'll talk to you later."

"Yeah, bye, sweetie," she said. "Can't wait to see you."

"You, too," he returned, and smiled as he hung up the phone.

Initially when he got off the phone call with Yvonne, he was more than happy to attend the political event with her. He had supported her at plenty of these things, and it was great for bonding time with her father. Although, her father was still against their relationship... but he was working on it as best as he could.

However, his feelings changed when he realized who else was going to be at the event. Spencer Hastings. He had almost forgotten that her mother was running for the same title as Yvonne's father. It almost felt a little coincidental. He sighed to himself and ran a hand through his hair. This was going to be a dramatic night, he could already tell.

He was hoping that he wouldn't have to disclose the information that he and Yvonne were seeing each other. He was sure she was going to have all sorts of ' _I knew you were building that house for someone'_ moments when she found out that he was in a relationship.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I hate myself even more for writing this next chapter. But, it looks like things are going to go in this direction on the show, anyways, so we might as well brace ourselves for it. It's like Gossip Girl's _Dair_ 2.0. Obviously things are not going to go exactly this way on the show, but things seem to be going in a very Spaleb direction. If you don't believe me, just search up Spaleb on Google or Twitter. It's horrifying.**

 **Update: I'm coming back after I saw the horrifying promo for 6x13. Yeah, looks like it's happening.**

 **You know, and I honestly must say that while I feel like their chemistry is pretty forced, I still find the idea intriguing. I am REALLY nervous and excited all at the same time for the next episode. Like, I'm all for Spoby, but something is just sorta like... they've been there for a long time. It gets kind of drama-less when Spoby hasn't broken up since they got back together in season 3. And the chemistry is still there IMO as seen in 6x11, but I feel like PLL has been too certain of a show with the ships. It's always been the core 3 pairings: Haleb, Ezria, and Spoby. Emily's the only one without any real certainty, although most people (including myself) want Emison.**

 **I feel like this plot is really dangerous and different. It annoys me in many ways, but it's got me intrigued and on the edge of my seat. In the end, my #1 is always Spoby, and I want them endgame on the show, of course. But I feel like it's natural for Spencer to gravitate towards someone else after their break up.**

* * *

CHAPTER 2

"Honey, you're here!" Yvonne exclaimed when she saw her boyfriend approach. She threw her arms around him for a long hug. When they both pulled back from the hug, she leaned in to peck his lips. Then, she scanned his outfit, which was a blue cotton button-down shirt and a pair of jeans.

Toby furrowed his eyebrows when he saw the odd expression on Yvonne's face.

"What?" he asked. "Yvonne... did I do something wrong?"

"No.. I mean, you're dressed a little casual for the event," she bit her lip as she answered.

He sighed and reminded her, " _You_ told me that it's a casual event."

"I said b-casual. I thought you knew that I meant business casual," she told him.

"Well, I don't think a button-down shirt is such a casual thing to wear," he said.

"It's not the button-down. It's the jeans," she explained. "But you know what? Whatever! I'm just glad that you could make it."

The smile reappeared on her face. She reached up to cup Toby's cheeks, and began leaning forward to try and kiss him, but surprisingly to her, he turned his head to the side. Yvonne raised her eyebrows.

"Toby?" she questioned.

"Sorry, I, um, I don't think we should display our relationship so much here. Your dad's running for a political position, and it's really clear that you're going to be running for a position, too. People have already got their eyes on you in this town because they've got nothing better to do than search for scandal in every politician's life," he explained.

"It's never been a problem before, sweetie. I don't think it's going to kill anyone if we kiss out here," she told him, still confused.

"Please," he begged. "We can go out for lunch or something after this, and we can do whatever then. There are lots of cameras here. I don't want this to be a problem."

" _Toby_ ," she folded her arms. "Is there something bothering you? Are you mad that I commented on what you're wearing to this event? Because I told you it's fine. I didn't think it was a big deal."

Sure, he was a little bit stunned when she commented on what he was wearing, but that wasn't the problem at all. Moments like that made him feel as if he didn't fit in to her world. The only two serious relationships he had ever had were both with women that were extremely successful and brilliant. But besides that matter, which he was constantly working on bettering, he was worried that Spencer was going to see him with Yvonne. It wasn't supposed to be an issue, since they had both had plenty of time since their break up. He knew he had every right to be with another woman at this point, but after what Spencer said about the house, he didn't want her to find out that he was dating Yvonne just yet.

He hated that he was staring off by lying to Spencer after not seeing her for so long. Secrets were what always hurt their relationship in the past. But honestly, he was afraid to tell her that he was with Yvonne. He knew he'd have to do it at some point, but he didn't want her to find out _now_ , right after he had told her that the house wasn't for anybody but himself.

"There's no problem," he assured her. "I told you my reasons."

Luckily, before Yvonne could respond, her father tapped her shoulder.

"My baby girl!" Mr. Phillips exclaimed, hugging his daughter. "It's wonderful that you're here again to support me. You're going to look excellent in the public's eye when you run for an office position with all this prior experience." He looked over to her left and saw Toby standing there. His bright smile faded upon locking eyes with the blue-eyed young man. "I see you've brought Mister Cavanaugh here again. It's a pleasure, Tobias."

"Mr. Phillips, I go by Toby," he explained.

Mr. Phillips subtly rolled his eyes before saying, "Toby is far too unprofessional for my liking. If you are my daughter's boyfriend, I need you to present yourself in a professional matter. So Tobias it is."

"Alright. Tobias..." he unenthusiastically agreed.

Just then, the door to the building opened once again. This time, Veronica Hastings entered with her daughter right by her side. Toby swallowed hard and took a small step away from Yvonne. Spencer's eyes went wide when they locked with Toby's.

' _What are you doing here_?' Spencer mouthed at him as she proceeded walking alongside her mother.

Toby made a worried face and just shrugged his shoulders. She was far from satisfied with his response, but she needed to keep her appearance up, so she turned her head away from Toby and flashed a smile at the people waving at her and her mother.

Yvonne furrowed her eyebrows when she noticed the interaction between the two of them.

"Um, do you know Veronica Hastings's daughter or something?" Yvonne asked.

This question clearly intrigued Mr. Phillips. The idea of a scandalous past between his daughter's boyfriend and his opponent's daughter excited him for one reason only: it had the potential to break the two of them up. Of course, he wanted to see his daughter happy, but he still firmly believed that Toby was never going to be able to support her in the future. And he was well-aware of Toby's attempts to stabilize himself to be with Yvonne, but he still believed it would never be enough to support her properly.

"Yeah," he confessed. "We, uh, we went to high school together."

"You said you dropped out of high school during your junior year, Tobias," Mr. Phillips reminded.

"I know, but we were still friends," he explained. "One of my good friends was dating one of her best friends, so we saw each other quite a few times."

This story was a complete lie. It wasn't a lie that they went to high school together, but she hated his guts up until the point that they started dating. Well, there was a brief period of time that they were friends when he was still enrolled in school... but it was for a very short amount of time, which led up to them dating. The whole rest of the story was a total lie. He didn't hang out with Spencer as a friend through 'one of his good friends dating Spencer's best friend'. He was thinking of Caleb when he said that. He obviously didn't mean Spencer through Caleb. He wasn't even friends with Caleb until long after he and Spencer began dating!

But he also wasn't ready to tell Yvonne that he was the ex-boyfriend of Veronica Hastings's daughter. That news was not going to sit well with her.

"Oh, that's cool," Yvonne said, but there was so much doubt in her voice.

Toby could tell that she didn't believe he was telling the full truth about how he knew Spencer Hastings. Yvonne was too smart of a girl to not pick up on that.

"Honey, why don't you come help me rehearse my speech one more time?" Mr. Phillips asked his daughter, putting his hand on her shoulder. "I want you to say some things up there, too. We need to make sure everyone knows what a brilliant daughter I have so they'll vote for you in the future."

"Alright," Yvonne agreed, nodding her head. "Stick around and get some food from the refreshment table if you'd like, Toby. I'll come and find you after the speech."

"Okay," he said, and gave her a small wave as she and her father walked off together.

He did end up going over to the refreshment table, and poured himself a glass of soda. As he put the cup up to his lips, he felt a tap on his shoulder that send a shiver down his spine. He blinked rapidly and turned around. He swallowed the soda hard when he saw Spencer standing there.

"H-hey," he stammered, and set his cup down on the table.

"I didn't know you were going to be here," Spencer said, and furrowed her eyebrows. "I was trying to ask you why you were here earlier, but my mom wanted me to greet all the guests. She wants to make sure the public knows how welcoming our family is," she continued with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

Toby chuckled and commented, "That's so like your mom."

"It's the definition of Veronica Hastings," Spencer joked. She bit her lip and asked, "So, uh, why are you here?"

"Can't a guy be interested in politics?" he chewed on his lip nervously.

She squinted her eyes in disbelief.

"Toby, we dated for three years. I know there's no chance in hell that you're interested in politics!" she shoved him playfully.

"Well, for those other years, maybe I developed a real love and interest for politics. You don't know what happened in the years we were apart," he reminded.

Spencer shivered as she thought about those years. So much had happened in that time. Things that were good, and things that were bad... Things she hadn't decided were good or bad yet.

"You're back in town, and I thought you'd be here. I wanted to see how the campaign and things were going," he lied.

She still didn't believe him.

"You and I both know that you didn't come here for me," she tilted her head. "Out with it, Cavanaugh! Do you know my mom's opponent or something? I saw you talking to George Phillips, the other man that's running for state senate."

He ran a hand through his hair, feeling defeated. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to spill it. He didn't want to keep on lying to her. It would be so much easier if she knew about his relationship with Yvonne. He was about to speak up and confess, but Yvonne wrapped her arms around Toby from behind.

"Yvonne!" he cried, pulling away from her quickly. "I thought you were helping your dad rehearse his speech."

"He knew I wanted to go on and talk to you, so he said we'll just go with what we rehearsed together last night," she said, smiling sweetly.

Spencer furrowed her eyebrows at the sight. He definitely looked more than friendly with George Phillips's daughter. The two girls analyzed each other critically before faking smiles.

"Hi," Yvonne began. "I'm Yvonne Phillips, daughter of George Phillips, who's running for state senate. You must be Veronica Hastings's daughter, right?"

"Uh, yeah, yeah, I am," Spencer nodded her head. "I've seen you in a few of your dad's speech videos. It's a pleasure to finally meet the daughter of my mother's opponent." She pressed her lips together for a moment before speaking up and asking, "So, um, how do you know Toby?"

"We're friends," Toby quickly blurted out, earning a serious glare from Yvonne.

He knew he screwed up when he said that, but he had to think fast. It was the only thing he could think of to explain it to Spencer, but it was obvious that Yvonne was pissed when he called her his friend.

" _Friends_ , Toby?" Yvonne questioned, raising her eyebrows. "Is that right?"

"I'm sorry, am I missing something?" Spencer asked.

"I don't know what this bozo is saying, but we are _not_ friends," Yvonne angrily told her.

"Toby, what is going on?" Spencer demanded.

He let out a quiet sigh.

"Okay, look.. Spencer, this is hard for me to tell you, but I'm dating Yvonne," he confessed. "We've actually been together for a while now. I shouldn't have lied to you." A disappointed look appeared on Spencer's face, but she couldn't make herself speak. Toby turned to face Yvonne and explained, "I'm sorry that I called you my friend, and I'm sorry that I lied to you earlier. Spencer's not just a girl I was friends with in high school. She's my ex-girlfriend. And we dated for a really long time, too."

Yvonne pressed her lips together.

"I figured, since you were acting so weird about her being here," Yvonne rolled her eyes. "Why would you lie?"

He stared at the floor.

"I don't know.. I'm stupid?" he shrugged. "I thought it would be weird to tell Spencer about us."

"That's all?" Yvonne asked in disbelief.

" _Yes_ ," he assured her.

Yvonne still didn't look convinced, and Spencer was watching the scene intently. He bit his lip nervously, trying to think of how to explain this. He knew it seemed guilty as hell that he hid the fact that he and Spencer dated in high school. He was hoping to avoid having this confrontation and conversation with the both of them. It was his lucky day, because Mr. Phillips took the mic on stage and began speaking.

"Hello," he greeted, adjusting his tie as he stood there on the stage. "Before I begin, I would like to thank my amazing daughter... _Yvonne Phillips_. I'd like to have her come up here. She has a few words to say."

"Well.. that's my cue," she whispered. "We are _not_ done talking about this. When I'm done with this, we need to talk."

Toby swallowed hard. He knew the meaning of 'we need to talk', and had a feeling she was about to break up with him. Yvonne had always loved him for his honesty. From his relationship with Spencer, he learned that not being honest always caused the most destruction. It was one of the main problems from their high school relationship. So, when he and Yvonne became an item, he learned from his mistakes and became the honest guy he had always wanted to be. And maybe that was one of the reasons Yvonne liked him so much. It was just that they never talked about the past much. So there he was, caught in a lie for the first time, and he felt horrible about it. He felt like something was going to click for her now that she knew he was a liar, too.

Why would a girl like her want to be with the poor, lying guy that couldn't support her future?

"So," Spencer smirked playfully. "I guess the house _is_ for someone, after all. You could have told me, you know."

"Spencer," he sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"No, I get it," she nodded. "Toby, it's been forever since we broke up. You have every right to be with her if you want to. We've both moved on."

"We have?" he raised his eyebrows.

She furrowed her eyebrows.

"We've had the time to do so," she reminded. "It's nothing strange. I mean, I'm kind of annoyed that she's the daughter of my mother's opponent. Couldn't you have picked a better girl?"

"Spencer, she's a great person," he explained.

"I bet," she sarcastically muttered.

"Hey, I'm serious!" he defended, grabbing her arm gently.

She tiled her head to the side in disbelief.

"Fine. What is wrong with her?" Toby asked.

"I know this girl. My mom knows her, too. She can be a real bitch," she replied.

"You don't know her well enough to say that," he said. "I really like this girl. Why do you have to be against that?"

"I'm not against it!" Spencer cried. "I told you, I'm okay with you being in a relationship. The girl is just not one that I'm very fond of. She's not the worst, but certainly not the best." She folded her arms and asked, "What does it matter to you what I think? If you're crazy about this girl, my opinion of her shouldn't stop you."

He pressed his lips together and looked at Yvonne, who was giving her speech on-stage.

"So, you're that serious about her that you're going to build a house to live together in, huh?" Spencer asked.

"It's not what you think. She doesn't even know I'm building it," he explained.

"A little surprise. I think she'll like it," Spencer smiled.

"You know, it's not really about her," he spoke up. "This has been a dream of mine.. to build this very house. I've had the designs since high school. I thought it was time that I get my life together. I want to be a family guy. Start a family, get a house, get married. I can't waste anymore time doing things that I don't want."

Spencer furrowed her eyebrows.

"You had the designs in high school?" she asked. "How come I never saw them?"

"Tell me, if I had showed you my plans for building houses, would you not have been scared away by the idea of moving that fast?" he chuckled, shaking his head. "I felt like you would have thought that I'm trying to push us too fast."

"I think it's cool that you've wanted to build a house since that age," she told him. "And no, I would have thought it was cool! I still think it's cool." She tilted her head and asked, "Do you ever miss being a carpenter?"

"All the time," he answered honestly.

"Then why are you still a police officer?" Spencer asked. "You loved carpentry."

"I know, but..." he stared at the ground and sighed. "I joined the police department because I wanted to protect you and your friends during that time. But I realized that I make better money working as a police officer than I ever will as a carpenter. I don't think I would have progressed very far with carpentry. I know being a police officer doesn't make me Mark Cuban or Bill Gates, but the pay is still better than when I was a carpenter."

"What if you made it big?" Spencer asked.

"Trust me, there's no giant carpentry league," he chuckled, sighing sadly.

"No, I mean, you could have started your own company or something. It's sad to see you do a job that you don't love," she told him.

"And you love your job?" he asked.

"I love it enough," she smiled.

When she turned around, her mother was motioning for her to come over there and prepare to go on for her own speech.

"My mom wants me to go over there. I'm about to give my own words about my mother. Apparently politicians care about what the daughter of the woman running thinks!" Spencer joked bitterly.

"You're gonna kill it up there," he smiled.

"Thank you, Toby," she smiled back.

She began to walk towards her mother. After taking a few steps, she turned around to face him.

"By the way," she began, "Yvonne is going to love that house."

"Yeah, I hope.. if we're even still together after the 'we need to talk' thing," he joked bitterly.

Spencer chuckled as she continued walking to her mother. His deep blue eyes focused in on her for a lingering moment. The smile on his face was more sincere than ever. He couldn't lie to himself about how much he missed her. He missed bantering with her, touching her, looking at her beautiful face. And it felt like the wrong thing to be thinking about while he had a girlfriend, but he also felt like it was natural. She was the first girl he had ever loved. How could he ever think badly of her or not want to see her? She was an amazing woman.

* * *

"Hey," Toby greeted, putting his hand on Spencer's shoulder. "Nice job out there. You killed it, just like I knew you would." He scanned her from head to toe with his eyes for a brief moment. "I always knew you'd be something great, Spence."

She felt a little bit warm inside when he called her _Spence_. A million things flashed in her head. She smiled to herself when she thought about those times where they were in a relationship. She felt a lot closer to him when he called her that.

"You are something great, too, you know," she told him, looking at him sincerely. "I hope you're not second guessing yourself because you're in a room full of politicians that act like they know what they're doing."

"How would you know I'm second guessing myself?" he chuckled nervously, scratching his head.

"I told you: I know you. It feels that way. You're still doing a job that isn't you, and I don't know. I know that you sometimes felt like you were lesser to me while we were together. Yvonne's similar to me in many ways, so.. I can't help but feel like you might think like that again," she shrugged.

"You and Yvonne are nothing alike," he shook his head. "Spencer Hastings is the most unique person I know. I've never met a girl quite like you."

She felt stupid. Everything she was saying to him made it seem like she was leading him on, or trying to flirt back up with him. But that wasn't how she wanted this to be. Being friends with Toby was the right thing. He had a girlfriend, and her mind couldn't even _begin_ to think about the drama of dealing with intervening in their relationship, and trying to pursue him again. Plus, she had her mind on other things at the moment, especially Charlotte and her career.

"So, did you and Yvonne talk?" Spencer asked.

He nodded his head.

"We didn't break up," he responded happily. "I explained everything to her. Honesty really is the key."

"I thought you would have learned that after our relationship troubles," she joked with a light laugh.

She still felt guilty. Like she was _lying_ to Toby by acting this way. They smiled at each other for a moment, until the door opened again. They didn't notice until the guy came over to Spencer and put his arm on her shoulder, just the way Toby had done earlier. It made him a little uncomfortable, especially the way the guy was smiling at her. And _especially_ because that guy was Caleb, someone he didn't think was this close to Spencer.

"I missed the speech? Damn it, I was hoping to make it!" Caleb laughed.

"Caleb!" Spencer exclaimed, turning to her. "I'm glad you ended up coming."

"Me too," he smiled. "So, uh, you ready to go?"

"Oh. Where are you guys going?" Toby asked, scratching his head again.

"We're grabbing a bite to eat down at the Apple Rose Grille," Caleb told him.

Toby furrowed his eyebrows, remembering when she didn't want to go to the grill in Washington because of the memories it brought up. Either she had gotten over all the trauma that made her hate every aspect of Rosewood, or she was so intent on hanging out with Caleb that she would deal with it for him. Toby was really hoping that it was the first option.

He nodded his head and pretended to not be suspicious at all, but he couldn't help but notice the longing glance Spencer gave Caleb.

"Hopefully we can catch up soon, man. It was cool seeing you again," Caleb said, giving Toby a small smile before he and Spencer began walking away together.

Toby could remember a time where he and Caleb were practically inseparable. They had become like best friends. Caleb was really the closest thing he had ever had to a best friend before. Back when he was still dating Spencer, Caleb and Hanna had broken up, so Caleb ended up hanging around in Washington D.C. for political science studies, and that was when he and Toby picked up their friendship. They had some really good times together, but once he and Spencer broke up, Toby moved back to Rosewood while Caleb stayed. They had completely lost touch for a long time. They did go fishing over the summer, but they were not even one bit as close as they used to be.

And now it felt weird to see him apparently so close with Spencer. He could recall the fishing trip, where Caleb explained how he ran into Spencer in Madrid. He raved about her so much, and Toby got a weird feeling about it, but he never thought of it as that much. Caleb was supposed to be his best friend, and he thought that meant that they wouldn't ever go for each other's ex-girlfriends. Toby would never even _think_ of making a move on Hanna. It sent shivers down his spine just to think about how much he'd be hurting both Spencer and Caleb.

He didn't know anything about what was going on between Caleb and Spencer, but he got an odd sense about it. A sense that told him that they were way closer than he had ever suspected.

"Babe!" Yvonne exclaimed, grabbing onto Toby's shoulder.

He shook his head off to regain his focus again, and allowed a smile to form on his face as he turned to face his girlfriend.

"Ready to go?" she asked, and let her arm move down from his shoulder to stroke his arm gently.

"Mhm," he nodded his head. "I'll meet you in the car. I just need a quick breather."

"Alright," Yvonne nodded her head back, and leaned over to peck his lips gently.

Toby swallowed hard as he watched Yvonne walk away. How could he only be worrying about Spencer and Caleb when he was supposed to be completely over her, and completely into Yvonne? Something about the fact that _Caleb Rivers_ could be the guy that Spencer was interested in irked him. He felt betrayed, even before knowing the story. If something were to happen between them, he wasn't sure if he could restrain himself from acting impulsively.

* * *

 **A/N: Okay... so I watched the latest episode, and yeah. Not liking it so much. I don't know how they're going to turn back from this point. I know people probably haven't watched it, so I'll keep it spoiler-free for now.**


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